On 30 September 2020, the European Commission launched the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 as part of the Education Package. The updated Digital Education Action Plan includes lessons learnt from the Covid-19 crisis as well as from the Open Public Consultation, to which Lifelong Learning Platform participated. It sets out a long-term vision including two strategic priorities with fourteen actions to achieve them: fostering the development of a high performing digital education ecosystem and enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation.
The Lifelong Learning Platform (LLLP) has welcomed the longer duration of the Action Plan as it allows for a greater impact and the possibility of scaling up, as well as the broadening of its scope to learning in all forms, as it now also covers non-formal and informal education, going towards a more holistic view of education.
In 2017, LLLP released its annual position paper on “Reimagining Education in the Digital Age”, a comprehensive opinion of education and training stakeholders on majors issues and opportunities the digital transformation brings to the field. Three years later, many of the recommendations still apply and are today even more important to deal with, in the context of a global pandemic. Key issues remain to be addressed particularly for the inclusion aspect of digital education, such as tackling the digital divide or the lack of basic skills; ensuring safety and wellbeing in face of challenges posed by the digital world; the need for longitudinal and unbiased research, and finally investment in teachers and educators, particularly in their professional development. The aforementioned remain key areas the Union needs to work on so as to ensure everybody is prepared and nobody is left behind in the digital transformation.
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